This invention relates to a semiconductor component having at least a first and a second component electrode and comprising a plurality of semiconductor elements which are integrated in a semiconductor chip and which each include at least a first and a second element electrode provided on the same side of the semiconductor chip, the first element electrodes being connected to the first component electrode, and the second element electrodes being connected to the second component electrode.
When controlling electrical power, the forward resistance of the control elements should be as low as possible. Combining a high breakdown voltage and a low forward resistance, thyristors are often used as control elements. However, thyristors have a forward voltage drop of about 1 volt, which is a disadvantage. Consequently, thyristors are less suitable for controlling electrical power at low voltages.
Transistors, which have a lower forward voltage drop or none at all, may instead be used. Normally, transistors for high currents have their source and their drain arranged on either side of the semiconductor chip in which they are made. As a result, the forward resistance of such transistors at least equals the resistance through the semiconductor chip. The forward resistance caused by the semiconductor chip can be reduced by arranging the drain and the source on the same side of the semiconductor chip. However, the forward resistance will nevertheless be high when controlling high currents. The reason for this will be explained below.
When used for controlling high currents, a large number of transistors have to be connected in parallel. The greater the number of transistors that can be arranged on a given surface of a semiconductor chip, the higher the currents that can be directed through this surface. Since transistor density may today exceed 100,000 transistors per cm.sup.2 it will be appreciated that contacting has to involve conductors of minute dimensions if it is to be possible to contact the sources and the drains on the same side of the semiconductor chip. However, minute conductors will have a considerable resistance, which, in turn, leads to a high forward resistance of the transistor component formed by the paralleled transistors.
EP 0 218 529 discloses a field-effect transistor composed of a large number Of field-effect-transistor elements integrated in a semiconductor chip. Each transistor element has a source area, a drain area and a gate area. The source and drain areas are arranged in a checkered pattern. Across the semiconductor chip extend diagonally parallel conductors alternately connecting the source and drain areas to a common source electrode and a common drain electrode, respectively, the common electrodes being arranged adjacent to the source and drain areas. The diagonal conductors are arranged on two levels, the conductors most distant from the semiconductor chip extending across most of the conductors closest to the semiconductor chip and being spaced apart therefrom by a dielectric layer through which contacts extend. Such an arrangement on different levels reduces current density and resistance without there being any need of increasing the width of the conductors. However, the forward resistance is nevertheless high, the average distance between the individual transistor elements and the common electrodes being considerable.